Becoming digital-ready: the importance of investing in new digital technology

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Here to help: the forum offered advice on the various challenges of modernisation

13 December 2018 • 1:30pm

At the Business Digital Transformation Forum, Vodafone and its partners were on hand to offer advice on the technological and cultural challenges of modernisation, Chris Price reports

Businesses today understand that investing in new digital technology is fundamental to their growth and survival. According to Vodafone’s Digital, Ready? report, 82pc of businesses believe that investing in new technology is now a priority and a similar number (79pc) state the importance of “digital transformation” – the process of overhauling legacy systems and old ways of working to drive greater efficiencies and meet the needs of consumers and customers now.

The report, which surveyed more than 2,000 tech decision-makers from UK businesses and public sector organisations, found that while more than half (57pc) are planning to spend more than £100,000 in the next two years on digital transformation, many still face multiple challenges about cost (40pc), integration with legacy systems (29pc) and lack of in-house skills (24pc).

In addition, many businesses are not yet ready for the cultural change required to put new systems and ways of working into place.

But how do businesses that have not yet started to transform begin the journey? And what have bigger organisations such as Vodafone, which emerged in the pre-digital era, done to change their own ways of working?

These were just two of the topics covered during the recent Business Digital Transformation Forum, sponsored by Vodafone and hosted at The Daily Telegraph offices in London.

“We’ve taken digital and embraced it fully,” Neil Blagden, Vodafone’s chief operating officer, told a packed auditorium of business leaders. “We’ve taken a holistic approach, not only across our systems but also our organisational structure, the people and capabilities we have and how we go to market.”

Technologically it is a process that has meant overhauling its back-end systems, embracing cloud technology and introducing automation, while organisationally it has meant deploying a new operating model blending digital and commercial teams together in multidisciplinary squads.

As well as migrating digital teams from Newbury to London to tap into the skill set, Vodafone is also bringing digital skills in-house, known as insourcing.

“We were massively dependent on third parties to deliver, design, code and deploy our digital capabilities but by next summer 95pc will be in house.”

Agile approach: Decoded’s Richard Peters discussed the use of data in business

Importantly, changes to Vodafone’s business have improved its ability to react fast and become more efficient. By next summer Vodafone will be able to offer daily releases on pricing changes.

“What used to take 24 engineers and a stack of pizza all night now takes one engineer 20 seconds and the click of a button.”

Inevitably, a major challenge for most businesses regarding digital transformation is finding the skills and knowledge required. One firm helping organisations to address these challenges is tech education company Decoded.

Founded in 2011, it recently launched its data academy to show how organisations can use data across all sectors of their business. “By letting people get their hands on data, you are allowing them to be agile, innovative and creative,” Richard Peters, Decoded’s co-founder, told the audience at the forum.

However, he said that a big challenge for businesses was connecting the different mindsets of leaders who want data simply to improve their efficiency and profitability, and practitioners, such as data scientists, who are looking to solve smaller problems.

According to Mr Peters, it is not about teaching data skills to every person in the organisation. “For us it’s about taking a smaller number of people, committing to training that group over a period of 12 to 18 months, and looking at how they can apply data skills in real-life situations,” he said.

For many organisations, especially those that were established in the pre-digital era, transformation marks a fundamental change in their business.

Shachar Bialick, the founder and chief executive of Curve, a company that integrates credit cards and finances, said: “Often it’s a DNA problem because the company emerged before there was any disruption in the market.”

However, the benefits of digital transformation certainly outweigh any short-term problems.

And as Mr Blagden concluded: “It was daunting when we first started and we’ve made mistakes, but digital transformation is a must – we are reducing costs and becoming more competitive by getting to market quicker.”

Watch the highlights from The Telegraph Business Digital Transformation Forum 2018, sponsored by Vodafone:

Interesting in attending?

For the second instalment in the series, The Telegraph Business Digital Transformation, brought to you by Vodafone, will be hosted at The Landing, Manchester.